La Vieille Auberge — Restaurant in Bayonne

Many of the items this place is known for were not on the menu or fixed course menu. We ordered the Ttoro, the risotto, and the veal (axoa). The ttoro came in this brown gravy stew that did not have a good flavor, reminiscent of a mediocre gumbo. The veal/axoa consisted of shredded beef with potatoes which my husband said was okay. The risotto with squid was the most disappointing and frankly inedible dish, a sticky mess that had something resembling ground beef mixed in, and looked and tasted like it had been sitting in a fridge for a couple of days. Also, the service was very slow for our table in particular. I noticed that other customers arrived after we did and left before our dishes were finally cleared from the table for dessert, after I had to mention to the server that we were done. I suspect that this restaurant was once a fine dining experience, but may no longer be the case. I should have noted as a clue the fact that there were only a few customers during peak dinner time. My only positive note is that of the one and only server, who was trying to be pleasant with us and doing his best. Also, the chocolate mousse...

Catastrophic lunch in St Jean de Luz. The lunch started with an unskilled waiter dropping a full bear on top of us literally soaking us over, the table and all our stuff. Which can happen. However it was his reaction, or lack of, barely apologising despite our patience. I even had to ask him to clean (dry) properly and replace the spilled bottle which he left on the table with little remainings. The lunch ensued with very disappointing food ( both fishes dishes rarely poorly cooked) which he almost left untouched. Unusual in us since we are tolerant with so so food. Desserts were also left mid uneaten. To top it all, at settling bill, the owner asked about our experience 🤔. He had not even heard of the incident. When calmly explained and shared our views about food and service she apologised and offered to discount the price of the beer. That is all. In a nice fishing village like this one, and good offer, this place is...

Notre récente célébration des anniversaires de ma mère et de mon oncle à La Vielle Auberge a malheureusement été entachée par une expérience mitigée. Si la carte proposait des mets corrects et d'une qualité acceptable, le service, quant à lui, a laissé grandement à désirer. L'amabilité et le sourire semblaient absents du personnel. Nous avons été particulièrement déçus de voir nos entrées servies prématurément avec les apéritifs, puis retirées pour être réchauffées ultérieurement.

Le point culminant de notre insatisfaction a été atteint au moment de régler l'addition. La direction a catégoriquement refusé notre requête de diviser équitablement la note entre les convives, engendrant un solde que les derniers à régler ont dû injustement supporter. La réponse de la responsable, pour le moins cavalière, fut : "Tant que c’est réglé de mon côté, après, vous vous débrouillez."

Comble de l'indécence, en passant devant l'établissement plus tard, nous avons été témoins de la responsable se moquant ouvertement de certains membres de notre groupe. Rétrospectivement, nous regrettons de ne pas avoir mentionné la présence de cafards morts dans la salle de restauration. Cette expérience est loin d'avoir été à la hauteur de nos attentes pour une occasion aussi spéciale.

Our recent celebration of my mother's and uncle's birthdays at La Vielle Auberge was unfortunately marred by a mixed experience. While the menu offered dishes that were decent and of satisfactory quality, the service, on the other hand, left much to be desired. Friendliness and smiles seemed to be absent from the staff. We were particularly disappointed to have our starters served prematurely with the aperitifs, only to have them taken away and reheated later.

The low point of our dissatisfaction came when it was time to pay the bill. The management flatly refused our request to split the bill equally among the guests, resulting in a remaining balance that those paying last had to unfairly bear. The manager's response, to say the least dismissive, was: "As long as it's settled on my end, you can sort yourselves out afterwards."

Adding insult to injury, while passing by the restaurant later, we witnessed the manager openly mocking some members of our group. In hindsight, we regret not having mentioned the presence of dead cockroaches in the dining area. This experience was far from meeting our expectations for such a...